PREFAB
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For those who've always wanted to build their own home, the prospect may now be more realistic than ever, thanks to a new wave of kit homes.
Innovative shipping container homes show just how good sustainable architecture can look.
A small space can house some very big design ideas—witness the new aktiv line of houses designed by ideabox, a six-ye...
They've come a long way from the catalog kit homes that were delivered by railroad across the nation a century ago, b...
If you're thinking of building new, you can streamline construction and save costs by going modular. Modular construc...
From their travel trailer beginnings, "mobile" homes have evolved into finely-tuned, and in some cases luxurious, permanent full-time abodes.
The factory-built home has come a long way from its humble trailer origins to its growing popularity today.
The House Arc, designed by Joseph Bellomo of Bellomo Architects in Palo Alto, California, is a kit home that represen...
California architect Peter DeMaria transforms surplus cargo containers into modern homes that are stylish, affordable, and good for the planet.
The modular home industry continues growth as a green alternative to traditional construction.
Insulation technology strengthens modulars as consumer seek healthy homes with resale value.
With rising energy costs and the lingering effects of the mortgage crisis, demand for smaller houses has never been g...
For many city apartment dwellers, living in a small, confined space is hardly cause for celebration. But this year, t...
As builders focus more on sustainability, modular homes present new opportunities to go green.
Bob meets with Pat Fricchione from Simplex Industries to discuss the process of constructing a modular home and the reasons why prefab is an attractive building m...
Bob teams up with Michael Shiels, the project's general contractor, to discuss the foundation prep work that is underway.
Bob meets with Jim Costello from Superior Walls of America to discuss the difference between a pre-cast and a traditional poured-concrete foundation.
Bob tours the Simplex Industries modular home plant and learns how the different pre-fab parts are made.
Bob tours the Simplex Industries manufacturing facility where workers are precutting the plywood as they construct the interior and exterior walls.
Bob witnesses high-speed drywall finishing taking place in the Simplex modular home building plant.
Bob meets with Thomas "Doc" Dougherty, the stair builder at Simplex Industries, to confer about the custom staircase Doc is building for the modular home.
Bob continues his tour of the Simplex Industries factory and observes the installation of prefinished Bellawood floors in the project home.
As workers join together the different sections of the modular home, Bob walks through the basement and first floor, discussing the marriage wall and how the piec...
Installation of the second floor sections begins as Bob points out the complexity of the pre-fabricated pieces.
Bob reviews the site preparation process with the on-site contractor, Michael Sheils.
The first day of assembling the modular home ends on a high note-- the addition of a roof.
Bob talks with Mark Murphy (Owens-Corning) about a new man-made stone product for the exterior of the modular home.
Bob and contractor Michael Sheils discuss the use of gusset plates to tie in the walls. They then tour through the master bedroom and bathroom.
Bob surveys the modular home project in the Berkshire Hills of Western Massachusetts, paying special attention to the products used on the exterior of the house.
Bob tours a home that was designed to affordable, flexible, and easy to build with a do-it-yourself, low-cost construction system.
Bob meets with Askia Aquil of the St. Petersburg Neighborhood Housing Services to talk about the upcoming project, taking place in a revitalizing area. Next, Bob ...
Bob meets with David Cross of Tampa Armature Works (TAW), a company that converts shipping containers into intermodal steel building units (ISBUs).
Once stripped down, an ISBU's exterior is finished with heavy-gauge steel, then faced in sheet-metal wrap and covered with SuperTherm insulating ceramic coating. ...
Window installation is underway. Bob talks with Stephen Hugh of Clearwater Window to learn more about the installation process, and Dave Olmstead of PGT Industrie...
Bob talks to Derek Mercer and Delwin Carter of Tampa Armature Works about how to treat the steel exterior to make it look more like a conventional house. Bob then...
Bob talks with Leslie Chapman-Henderson from the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH) about the technologies involved in securing a roof. Chapman-Henderson exp...
Bob joins Steve Armstrong, the project architect and engineer, to discuss the project. The challenge of building a home like this is marrying new methods of const...
Bob talks with David Cross from Tampa Armature Works. Cross reviews the versatility of designing houses with shipping containers. Both traditional and contemporar...
General contractor Buba Barrow joins Bob for a tour of the finish work and interior layout, starting on the tiled front porch, moving through the open-plan family...
Bob talks with David Cross (formerly of Tampa Armature Works) about the future of home construction with steel shipping containers.
